Limited tornado research has been conducted across the state of California, especially when looking at the low-level thermodynamics of tornado genesis. In comparison much more research has been undertaken across the United States. This study examines low-level thermodynamic parameters associated with California tornadoes between 1960 and 2005. The study also examines similarities within the low-level thermodynamic parameters associated with California tornadoes and tornadoes associated with landfalling hurricanes between 1960 and 2005. The effect of the ocean on the low-levels of the atmosphere seems to be a strong tornado discriminator when analyzing California tornadoes. This discriminator is especially evident when breaking California into four distinct subregions. Use of low-level thermodynamic parameters in a large region such as California is a poor tornadoorecasting tool. This fact was strongly evident in this research when instability, especially in the lowest 3 km of the atmosphere, was used as a forecasting tool for California tornadoes.